Aston Villa stars in disagreement with Unai Emery as they push for Champions League chance
Aston Villa are currently third in the Premier League, just two points off league leaders Liverpool, and Unai Emery’s stars are now dreaming of a top four finish
Unai Emery won’t like it – but Aston Villa players are having Champions League dreams.
The manager of Villa has been eager to downplay any notion that his team could end up gatecrashing the playoffs at the end of this campaign. He’s been questioned about the prospect a lot, particularly after Villa Park’s 15-game winning streak.
But he says, “We are contenders – but there are also seven others,” refusing to put his team under needless strain.
But it seems that some of his first-team players aren’t buying into the Spanish manager’s desire to downplay the circumstances. Emery’s devotion to detail, according to right-back Matty Cash, makes him a unique managerial talent. And while it’s still a long way off, he acknowledged that it’s something to strive toward.
He said: “As a group, we’ve learned a lot from the manager. The attention to detail in his meetings is incredible and we have a lot of long ones, but it’s working.
“The manager has talked to us about being confident, in terms of we’re a team that is here to stay, and we are not here by luck. We’re in the top positions because we deserve to be there. We are striving to be better than we were last year when we qualified for Europe.
“I’m sure if we do that then we’ll finish in the European positions again – or the Champions League. It’s a long way away. We’ve all got dreams that we want to achieve, but we just have to focus on the game ahead.“
Emery swapped and changed his squad for last Thursday’s draw against Zrinjski Mostar – eight of the players who started the victory over Arsenal were omitted from the starting line-up in Bosnia
Villa are halfway through a schedule that sees them play ten games in five weeks before the New Year. But they are coping with the twin pressures, so far. Home-grown talent Jacob Ramsey echoed Cash’s feelings, insisting that the Champions League is a justifiable target.
He said: “Right now, based on how we’re playing and the results we’re getting – especially at home, our aim should be the top four. If we can transfer our home form into the away fixtures, I don’t see why we can’t do that.
“There are a lot of teams fighting for those Champions League spots and we’ve also got the Europa Conference League to focus on and hopefully we can reach the later stages of that competition, too.“
Emery will have to alter his plan on the trip to the GTech Community Stadium today. Although his first-choice team has mostly performed well, he has been suspended for two important players.
Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz were both banished after receiving five bookings. This frees up Alex Moreno, who is healthy after a protracted injury layoff, to take over at left back, with Ramsey filling in for the Brazil international.
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